Life speeds up in the fast lane - The West Australian

With only a few weeks to go until she makes her debut in the international Miss Universe competition, life is only speeding up for Australian titleholder Renae Ayris.

The Connolly beauty and ToyBox ambassador managed to squeeze in some time back home at the weekend where she took calls in the Telethon phone rooms and yesterday handed over a cheque for $33,846 to Cancer Council WA from the charity event Sounds Like Summer, which she lent some star power to last month.

Ayris will now spend the next three weeks jet setting between Perth, Melbourne and Sydney for various commitments before boarding a plane for Las Vegas on December 3 for the next leg of her Miss Universe journey.

The 21-year-old told AAA she was feeling prepared for the international competition but packing was proving quite the challenge.

"I'm trying to sort out all my outfits because you can't repeat an outfit," Ayris said. "It's three weeks worth of clothes for during the day and at night. I've also been studying up on the Miss Universe questions."

For the past four years in a row, Australia's entrants in Miss Universe have consistently placed in the top 10 including Perth's Scherri-Lee Biggs, who was a finalist last year.

However, Ayris isn't placing bets on how far she will get in the pageant.

"Obviously I want to do well but I am not going in there thinking I am going to win," she said. "I will go and do my best and see what happens. But it would be good to get into the top five."

Clothes, prizes and fame aside, the leggy blonde said the element of Miss Universe she was most excited about was the chance to mingle with the other entrants.

"I am looking forward to meeting 80 new girls from different countries," Ayris said. "I have chatted to a few of them on Twitter so at least I will know a few people already."

The international Miss Universe winner will be announced on December 19.